Friday, July 31st.
After a full day of work, Xia Wenhao was in unusually good spirits. Everything had gone smoothly, and for once, he didn't need to stay late. By 6 PM, he was already off the clock.
Normally, on a day like this, he'd hop on the subway home, order takeout for dinner, and watch a Friday night drama before calling it a day.
But today, he went straight to the movie theater near his office.
Inside, it wasn't quite packed, but there were easily twice as many people as usual.
The promotional posters for the three summer blockbusters—'Gun Grave', 'Firefly', and 'High-Energy Girlfriend'—had already been pushed to the corners of the theater lobby.
Front and center now were posters for the six new films debuting today:
Romance film 'Cape.'
Coming-of-age film 'The Art Student.'
Romance film 'The Garden of Words'
Comedy 'Sea Otter'
Fantasy film 'Tree Riddle.'
Horror flick 'Blood Mirror.'
All six were mid-budget productions, with combined production and marketing budgets under 70 million yuan—not massive by any means. However, they still featured several well-known actors or surprise guest appearances. And with the recent lull in the film market, a lot of moviegoers had grown starved for fresh content. Seeing six films released at once, many had come out just to check the scene.
But Xia Wenhao had only one goal in mind.
7 PM – The Garden of Words.
He had bought his ticket days in advance. After exchanging it, he sat quietly in his seat, waiting for the screening to begin.
Meanwhile, Su Yan's fans were going wild online.
Every major film forum was lit up with chatter about 'The Garden of Words'.
["20 minutes to go until showtime!"]
["So hyped!"]
["I don't even care what the plot is—as long as it's Su Yan and Gu Qingyuan, that's worth the ticket!"]
["It's ranked third in today's screen share at 9%. Let's hope it ends the day in third place for the box office too!"]
["Don't sell it short! Just because it's third in screen share doesn't mean it can't be #1 or #2 in ticket sales!"]
["Tonight's critical. Box office matters, sure—but attendance rates and word-of-mouth are way more important. If those are strong, theater chains will definitely boost their screenings tomorrow!"]
Xia Wenhao scrolled through the posts on his phone, his anticipation building.
Many of Su Yan's fans were film buffs in their own right. Even if 'The Garden of Words' wasn't a big-budget blockbuster—and even though it was Su Yan's first film, meaning no one expected record-shattering sales—the fans weren't about to let it flop.
They complained, they joked, but when it came down to it, they were united.
They would not let Su Yan fail.
Before long, it was 6:55 PM.
Xia Wenhao lined up for ticket inspection with a small crowd of others waiting to watch 'The Garden of Words'.
The moment he stepped into the theater, he realized—with a strange mix of resignation and horror—that he was seated between two couples. And nearly half the seats were already filled.
Worse still…
Most of the audience seemed to be couples.
As a single guy, Xia Wenhao felt immediately out of place.
[Wait, I thought Su Yan fans were all single dogs?!]
[Wasn't this movie supposedly super emotionally heavy? Not recommended for couples??]
[Why are there so many couples here??]
His thoughts spiraled. Sandwiched between two pairs of lovebirds, he was starting to feel deeply uncomfortable.
But before he could wallow too long in self-pity, the theater lights dimmed.
A round of standard pre-show ads played, then paused.
The screen lit up with a breathtaking, lush green scene.
"Until two months ago, I didn't know any of this."
Su Yan's voice as the male narrator filled the room, instantly calming Xia Wenhao.
Yes. This was it.
No more distractions. Time to focus.
The scenes shifted quickly—
A moving train.
Bustling crowds.
People crammed inside a commuter car.
The introspective narration of the protagonist, Takao Akizuki.
And that unmistakable Shinkai-style shot composition.
Xia Wenhao gradually settled into the rhythm of the film.
"The sky felt so close, I could reach out and touch it. So I came to like rainy days. On rainy mornings, instead of changing trains, I'd walk out of the station."
On screen, the male lead—played by Su Yan—walked through the rain with an umbrella.
He entered a public park lush with green trees, centered around a large artificial lake. It was June, and the misty, rainy haze lingered across the water's surface.
The camera panned upward as the boy moved deeper into the park toward a small pavilion.
Xia Wenhao sucked in a breath, eyes wide.
Beautiful.
This was what movies were supposed to look like—on a completely different level from TV.
Inside the pavilion, the boy found a woman.
A beautiful woman, sitting in the rain, drinking beer, and eating chocolate.
Her posture was relaxed, a faint, elusive smile on her lips—like she was a woman full of secrets.
Gu Qingyuan.
Xia Wenhao instantly perked up.
The film was barely three minutes in, and both leads had already made their entrance.
Two strangers, sheltering from the rain in the same pavilion.
One sipped beer and stared out over the rainy lake, lost in thought.
The other pulled out a sketchpad and began drawing designs for shoes.
Both subtly glanced at each other with sidelong glances.
"She looked... familiar."
Takao's inner monologue.
Xia Wenhao made a mental note of the line. It sounded like a hint. Maybe a callback for later.
["Maybe it's a past-life thing. Like Yukishiro Tomoe meeting Himura Kenshin again in this life."]
The girl seated next to him whispered to her boyfriend.
Xia Wenhao didn't mind. In fact, he hoped that really was the case.
The boy dropped his eraser.
The woman leaned over to pick it up, smiling as she handed it back.
The small gesture broke the silence between them.
Akizuki asked if they had met before.
The woman, sipping her beer and popping a piece of chocolate in her mouth, initially said no.
But as she watched him sketch intently, a flicker of recognition seemed to flash in her eyes.
She picked up her bag and stood.
Outside, the rain poured, thunder cracking through the sky.
"Maybe... we have met before."
She smiled, a hint of mystery in her voice.
"A faint clap of thunder,
Clouded skies,
Perhaps rain will come,
And if so, will you stay here with me?"
With that short poem, she stepped out into the rain and left.
By now, the audience was fully immersed.
This... wasn't like other romance movies at all.
Xia Wenhao's eyes widened again.
From the trailer, he thought it would be a standard high school love story.
But Akizuki wasn't just a student—he skipped class every time it rained to sit in a park pavilion and sketch shoe designs.
[That's way too chill! Are high schoolers in Sakura Island always this relaxed?]
[In the mainland, kids would get their parents called for skipping class like this!]
And that poem…
Just those few lines elevated the movie's tone dramatically.
[Did Su Yan write that himself? He's really got talent.]
The film continued.
It introduced Akizuki's home life.
A single-parent household.
His mom was still dating around, carefree and impulsive—but likable.
His older brother is calm and already working.
Akizuki himself? Not interested in academics. He was focused on becoming a shoemaker after graduation.
Back home, he even asked his brother what the woman's poem meant.
On clear days, he'd go to school.
Rainy days? He'd skip class.
Another rainy morning.
The boy returned to the park... to the pavilion... and met her again.
They talked.
A student skipping class.
A woman skipping work.
As they parted again, she smiled and said—
"See you again—maybe, on another rainy day."
Xia Wenhao was now hooked.
The pacing was slow, but comforting.
Both characters felt real, not the typical clichés seen in Xia Nation romance films.
And the woman's words felt like a quiet promise:
Rainy days = their secret rendezvous.
They didn't know each other's names, ages, or backgrounds.
Just a student and a woman skipping out on real life, meeting under the rain.
It was June. The rainy season had arrived.
This was exactly the kind of fateful encounter a teenage boy would dream of.
Xia Wenhao could feel it—this was youth, bottled and condensed.
And only Su Yan's work could make it hit so clearly.
Over 80% of the movie's visuals featured overcast skies and rain.
And yet—despite the gloomy tones, both Xia Wenhao and Takao felt the same thing.
Hope.
Rain meant he could see her again.
Gradually, Akizuki began to open up.
He told her about his dreams of becoming a shoemaker.
And, slowly... he started falling for her.
"Every morning when I woke up, I hoped for rain.
She was so distant from me.
To me, she seemed to hold all the secrets of the world.
But there were two things I was certain of—
To her, I was just a fifteen-year-old kid.
And only shoemaking could lead me to where I truly belonged."
Meanwhile, the film cut to the woman.
Standing at the subway entrance, looking at the train doors—but never stepping in.
She turned and walked away again.
To the park.
To the pavilion.
Xia Wenhao felt a pang in his chest.
No dialogue.
But her eyes said everything.
She didn't want to go to work.
Not because she was lazy.
But because she dreaded the work environment.
She wasn't introverted—clearly not afraid of people.
That could only mean...
Someone at her job was the problem.
Without realizing it, the two chatty couples beside Xia Wenhao had gone completely silent.
They, too, were drawn in.